In Memoriam: Dr. Mark Bookman (1991–2022)

I’m decidedly not happy to report that I have the dubious distinction of having outlived my own PhD student. My first doctoral advisee, Dr. Mark Bookman, passed away unexpectedly in the early morning of 16 December 2022.

Mark earned his PhD in EALC in May 2021 and had since been working as a postdoc at the University of Tokyo. At the time of his death, he was finalizing negotiations for a professorial position at Ritsumeikan University and his first book contract with Oxford University Press. He had also just been elected to the Diversity and Equity Committee of the Association for Asian Studies and had articles forthcoming in leading academic journals such as Disability Studies Quarterly, the Journal of Japanese Studies, and Japanese Studies. 

Mark was a perspicacious researcher, a tireless mentor for junior colleagues, and an indefatigable advocate for disability rights and universal design. While at Penn, he organized the Accessibility Mapping Project (AMP) and served in numerous roles in graduate student government, including a stint as President. He also regularly performed consulting work for organizations ranging from the Japanese government to the United Nations, and he had bylines at various news outlets such as the Japan Times and the Washington Post.  

Here’s an obituary generated by Carolyn Stevens for the Association for Asian Studies Asia Now blog, which includes information about an upcoming memorial service to be held in Tokyo.

I’m grateful to have had the chance to have worked with Mark. He taught me a lot about disability, about advising, and about myself. I feel so fortunate to have known him, and I’m sorry he’s gone.